Harry Potter and the Siege of Hogwarts
by n89dpt
Summary: Post OotP. Realising that the current students at Hogwarts will be the key to defeating Voldemort's forces in the coming years, Dumbledore implements a radical plan to prepare them for the coming storm.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Stupefy!"

The shout that came from Harry's left was panicked and sounded unnaturally high coming from a male.

_'Good,' _Harry thought, _'he's an amateur.'_ The fact that the red curse looked feeble and was a good fifteen-feet off target confirmed as much. _'This should be easy, but I better be on guard just in case.'_

For the fifth time in just under two hours, Harry was engaged in a skirmish near Hagrid's Hut. His decision to keep away from the main fighting near the castle's entrance was sound in theory but it had proven to be a blunder. He had given away too much ground and was finding it hard to fight his way back because he was so exposed.

_'Next time I'll have to try and find a position with more cover,' _Harry told himself.

Taking temporary cover in some bushes near the fringes of the Forbidden Forest, Harry took stock of the situation. He needed to make a dash for the Entrance Hall, but it was simply too far away to cover the distance out in the open. He'd be picked off within a minute if any half-competent spell-caster was nearby. _'I guess I don't have a choice but to take it slow.' _Harry thought._ 'I'll head towards the greenhouses; they are just as far from the Entrance Hall as Hargrid's Hut but there are far more things to hide behind.' _

With a serviceable, if somewhat makeshift, strategy in place, Harry turned his attention to trying to escape his current predicament. He knew there was at least one opponent somewhere to his right near Hagrid's pumpkin patch. Whoever it was wasn't much of a threat because their aim was terrible. Even so, it would be risky to attack their position head-on. Even inept wizards can get lucky. The direct route to the greenhouses was a complete unknown though and thus far riskier. There could be any number of enemies laying in the shallow ditches that were scattered over the field. _'No, that won't do,' _Harry thought bitterly. '_The fact that Mr No-Aim is still over there firing off hexes after two hours would suggest that there is no one else in the vicinity. If there was, surely he would have been taken out by now. Right?'_

Armed with his wand and the idea that if he ran fast enough his enemy would have no hope of hitting him, Harry emerged from behind the bushes and moved towards the pumpkin patch. He covered almost thirty feet before a single hex was fired. Evidently, his opponent wasn't paying close attention to his movements. The gap closed quickly. _'Thirty-five feet, twenty feet, fifteen feet,' _Harry thought, his excitement rising. A string of three hexes, a stunner and two minor bludgeoning spells judging from the colours of them, came at Harry from behind a ridiculously large pumpkin. True to form, they were all off target, although not so far off target that Harry felt completely comfortable with his plan. Realising that coming from either side of the pumpkin was too risky, Harry concluded that his only option was to vault the gigantic vegetable and attack his foe from above._ 'Careful now, get your timing right,' _he warned himself. It only took four more strides to reach the pumpkin. Harry aimed his wand carefully, placed one foot on the pumpkin and launched himself into the air. "Stupefy," he cried and looked on with satisfaction as his opponent fell to the ground. Harry did not slow down to further admire his handiwork but instead looped behind Hagrid's Hut and headed off towards the greenhouses. _'This is going to be tough,' _Harry thought, still exhilirated by his victory, no matter how small and insignificant it was. '_A win is a win.'_

The afternoon sun was still shining brightly and it made Harry's job of identifying hazards significantly easier than it would have been if it was overcast or dark. Judging from what he could see, the whole area appeared to have been deserted. _'Everyone must have been defeated or already made it to the Entrance Hall.' _The thirty-second run to the rear of Greenhouse Five was uneventful apart from the odd flash of spellfire in the distance. He pushed himself up against the glass of the greenhouse and took some time to gather his breath. _'Okay, what now Potter?' _it was annoying how his inner voice took on Malfoy-like characteristics when he was being critical of himself. _'So,between here and the doors to Hogwarts there are five greenhouses, then there is a long, gentle hill and a large courtyard. Right?' _He couldn't help but feel there was another landmark he was missing_.' _It is amazing how little detail you can recall about places you've been to hundreds of times before when you are under pressure. '_Amazing... and highly inconvenient.'_

Harry knew that every second he waited, his task became harder. He was starting to feel unsure about his next move as well and that was a problem. Sirius had once told him that on the battlefield you are your own worst enemy. You need to keep focused on the reality of your situation and use that information to make clear decisions. The thought of his recently deceased godfather caused Harry to wince inwardly. _'Get it together Harry, this is exactly the sort of thing he was warning you about.' _Taking one last deep breath he moved towards the western corner of Greenhouse Five. He peered around the corner cautiously and was immediately forced to go to ground as a spell flew towards his head. "Shit!" Harry was suprised to hear the expletive leave his mouth. _'That was so-damned close.' _ He managed to return to his hiding place just in time to see another curse fly past the greenhouse and slam into a nearby tree. Judging from the angle the two spells came from, they were cast by two diffirent people. A low crunching noise alerted Harry to the fact that the two who fired the curses were approaching his position. '_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.' _

Knowing that his position was not defendable, at least not against multiple enemies, Harry decided to run around the greenhouses in the opposite direction to what he originally intended. _'Here goes nothing, or everything. I suppose it depends on how you look at it.' _He knew there would be enemies waiting for him around the corner, and if he made it past them, there would be even more near the castle. Even so, he had no choice but to make a run for it and hope for the best. Harry readied his wand and stormed off towards the castle. The run was going to take about two minutes and not for the first time Harry wished he paid more attention to his psyichal fitness. Sure, he played quidditch, but his main focus during training was to build strength so that he could better control his broom for long periods of time. The first two curses shot in his direction came from over one-hundred feet away and were, unfortunately for Harry, not far from connecting with their target. Evidently, someone up ahead had both saw him coming and had the skills to make a decent attempt at hitting him. Harry had to duck to his left at great pace to avoid the more accurate of the two spells. Even then, he could feel the heat energy of the spell as it whizzed past his right shoulder. Harry fired a stunning spell in return but his aim was well-off. He wasn't well-practiced at firing spells on the run: which was an appalling oversight in his magical training now that Harry came to think about it. _'This ones means business.' _Harry had little time to ruminate further because another four curses were already heading in his direction. Two of them had come from the same place as before but the other two had come from opposite sides of the courtyard up ahead. _'Great, there's at least three of them.' _Outnumbered and out-manouevered Harry's thoughts turned to Ron and Hermione. They weren't there to help him this time.

The spellfire was relentless. To make matters worse, Harry's progress was significantly slower than he had hoped because he kept needing to dodge the incoming curses. He was not going to make it to the Great Hall, he knew that now. It was just a matter of time before one of the curses hit. As luck would have it, a trememndous burst of spells was launched in his direction right at that moment. He instantly knew that his luck had run out; he would not be able to block them all. Harry's fight was over. Left, right, left, left again. Harry's highly trained reflexes allowed him to avoid four hexes before one finally slammed into his chest. The world went dark. Harry had fallen just fifty feet from the enormous wooden doors of the Entrance Hall.

* * *

Waking up after being hit with a stunning spell is an odd sensation. Your brain acts as if it has only been interrupted by a minor glitch and attempts to continue from where it left off. At the same time, it is assaulted by sounds and sights that indicate your surroundings have changed completely. To say it is disorienting is an understatement.

"Harry, you alright mate?" Ron's voice was oddly comforting despite the fact Harry was never in any danger on the fields of Hogwarts. No matter the context, having dozens of spells streaming towards you is a disconcerting experience. He turned his head to face his male best friend and groaned. Although the stunning spell itself had caused no damage, the deep ache in Harry's lower back indicated that he must have fell to the ground awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry replied groggily, as his eyes adjusted to the light in the Great Hall. "How about you?" Harry enquired, slowly pulling himself up enough to prop up his head on his left hand. It was too soon to move any more than that.

"I barely got a scratch," Ron confided gloomily.

"You sound disappointed," Harry noted.

"Yeah, I got caught in a firefight in the main courtyard about twenty minutes in and had to yield." Having known Ron for five years, Harry knew that such a poor performance would have stung his friend's pride.

"Oh, that's unlucky mate," Harry lamented sincerely. " I strayed too far away from the main action and it was too hard to fight my way back," he added in an attempt to make Ron feel better.

"I don't know, It looked like you were doing okay from here." Seeing Harry's questioning glance, Ron elaborated: "They had screens up around the Great Hall monitoring how everyone was going."

As far as Harry could remember, the Headmaster hadn't mentioned anything about that to the students when he announced the First Engagement at the Welcoming Feast. "In light of recent events, there have been significant changes to the Hogwart's curriculum." Dumbledore's words had caused a stir amongst the students that night and the reverberations were still being felt when the First Engagement began three hours ago. At any rate, now that Harry thought about it, it made sense that the event was being so closely watched. How else were the teacher's going to properly assess the students?

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, curious to know how his other best friend had fared. Ron blushed lightly as he pointed towards the Entrance Hall. "Getting some treatment from Madame Pomfrey. Apparently she fell into one of the rose bushes near the courtyard. Must have been when she was stunned."

"Ouch," was Harry's immediate reply. "She's alright though?"

"Oh, yes, she's fine, just some cuts and scrapes. Pomfrey's a bloody menace though. She shooed me off like I was a rodent or a fly or something."

_'Ah, so that would explain the blushing then.'_

Rather than making a big deal out of his red-headed friend's embarassment, Harry changed the subject. "So, who won?"

"Well no one really. Flitwick and Sprout were camped near the entrance and stopped anyone from entering."

_'That's interesting,' _Harry thought, _'We were so poor that Snape, Mcgonagall and Dumbledore didn't even have to enter the fray.' _Harry hadn't expected Dumbledore to fight, but he thought some of the seventh years might be able to test some of the teachers less familiar with dueling.

"We didn't exactly cover ourselves in glory then," Harry stated wryly.

"Not unless you consider being beaten by our Herbology teacher, a woman I've never seen use a wand before today, glorious."

_'Indeed,' _Harry thought.

The meal following the First Engagement could well go down in the history books as the quietest mass gathering of teenagers of all time. The only noise that could be heard was the unpleasant scraping of cutlery and crockery. Even the teachers weren't talking. The combination of the entire student populace being exhausted from the afternoon's exertions and the realisation of just how much work they needed to do on their combat skills to be considered even semi-competent culminated in an almost eerie silence.

Harry was surprised to find that Hermione was visibly upset by the events of the afternoon. She joined Ron and Harry in the courtyard just before dinner was due to be served and didn't waste any time in letting her best friends know just how poorly they had all performed. "It's not surprising Dumbledore felt the need to change things up a bit," Hermione said. "Our spellcasting was terrible, our tactics were terrible, our ability to hit a moving target was terrible. I saw a seventh year Ravenclaw try to stun a stationary student just ten feet away, only to miss and have his own spell ricochet off the castle wall and thud into his own chest." Harry was going to suggest that maybe the Ravenclaw had slipped or simply had a case of nerves, but Hermione cut him off. "What made it even worse is that the stunner didn't even knock him out."

Approximately, thirty minutes passed before Dumbledore finally rose from his chair to speak. Almost every pair of eyes in the Great Hall was focused on the Headmaster. Predictably, the few pairs that weren't belonged to a handful of older Slytherin students who appeared to find their food far more interesting than anything Dumbledore had to say.

"The first time I stepped on to a battlefield was when I was fifteen years old. A minor dark wizard based near the town I grew up in was causing problems with some local business owners. I say 'minor dark wizard' because he never murdered anyone, at least as far as I am aware. Even so, he was exceptionally cruel and wildly unpredictable. For the most part, the wealthy men and women of the town managed to placate the wizard by paying bribes and promising favours I won't bore you with the precise details as to why it happened, but the local townspeople eventually grew tired of trying to placate the man and decided to make a stand against him."

Harry had not expected to be regaled with a tale from Dumbledore's youth but found himself fascinated nonetheless. A quick glance around the Great Hall revealed that practically the whole student body appeared to be as interested in the Headmaster's story as Harry was. _'Come to think about it, I know absolutely nothing about his past,' _Harry thought surprised by his ignorance. He should really know more about such an important figure. _'Especially since he has been keeping important information away from me for my entire life...'_

"The fight began in the town centre. A force of roughly one hundred townspeople came to fight against him and his followers. As the town's brightest student, I was expected to fight and fight well. My knowledge of spells was second to none, my aim and dueling form was impeccable., the moment to prove my worth had come. And within thirty seconds of the fight breaking out I realised that I was completely out of my depth."

Harry could hear hushed whispers coming from all four tables. Surely, Albus Dumbledore, fabled leader of the light and vanquisher of dark lords, was simply exaggerating the extent of his troubles to prove a point. The look in the Headmaster's eyes betrayed the truth of the matter however, Albus Dumbledore had indeed once been as useless on the battelfield as they were today. It was hard to believe, especially considering the awesome display of magic Harry had seen from Dumbledore in the Ministy Atrium just over two months ago. Harry could not stop his brain from placing that duel in the context of the events of that fateful night. _'That was just after Sirius was killed and just before I learned the contents of the Prophecy.' _

"The first, and most obvious, problem was that I had next to no knowledge of combat tactics. The second problem was that I had never experienced the confusion and chaos of an active battlefield before. It was all so messy and disorienting and I was lucky to escape with my life."

Not surprisingly, a large amount of students appeared to be shocked. It was just so odd to hear such a strong figure talk so openly about how close he had come to death and how vulnerable he once was. It was a startling reminder that even the most powerful and brilliant witches and wizards were not perfect.

"Today, all of you, with the exception of a select few, experienced your first taste of combat. The point of today was to demonstrate how important every aspect of your magical training is to your survival. Out of over four hundred students, none of you came close to making it to your objective. Some of you had all the spells, but like me when I was your age, no knowledge of tactics. Some of you had a solid plan in place but didn't have the skills to execute it. Others were simply not physically strong enough, or didn't know when the right moment to attack was, or didn't have the patience to wait for the opportune moment, or simply just got lost in the chaos."

"You are unfortunate to be growing up during a time when one of the most powerful and psychopathic dark wizards of all time is at large. That does not mean, however, that your life is forfeit. If you work hard, acknowledge your faults and devote yourself to bettering all of your skills, you will stand a very good chance of not only surviving the tough times, but thriving. Starting from tomorrow morning your new training schedule begins. Make sure you get plenty of rest; you will need it."

And with that, the Great Hall, deathly silent for almost an hour, was quite suddenly a hive of activity. The atmosphere was heavy no doubt - the most respected wizard of the last one hundred years had all but guaranteed that they would all be forced to fight for their lives at some point in the near future – but for the moment it was also greatly optimistic.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The mood in the Great Hall was one of great anticipation. The students were all gathered at their respective house tables chatting excitably about what Headmaster Dumbledore might say. The previous day's less than satisfactory performance was a distant memory. _'The only way to go from rock bottom is up.'_

"Well obviously the Headmaster is going to be telling us about how classes are going to run this year," Hermione said confidently. Ron looked at Harry and rolled his eyes. The redhead was playing with fire, if Hermione had seen the gesture she would have been shouting at him within seconds.

Harry wasn't sure how the morning was going to unfold. Dumbledore did not tell Harry that anything different was happening this year when he had accompanied the Headmaster to Slughorn's house in the summer. Since then, Harry had only seen Dumbledore twice, at the welcoming feast and at dinner last night. It was not unusual for the Headmaster to be absent from time to time, but it did seem that it he had been absent an awful lot more than normal over the first two weeks of this year.

_'He's been busy preparing something. I suppose we'll find out what it is very soon.' _

* * *

"I know the first two weeks of the year have been fairly unsettling," Dumbledore said to the gathered crowd. Harry hadn't noticed anything different to previous years in terms of classes so far, but he did agree that there had been an odd feeling in the air. It was as if school hadn't really started yet. All the teachers were revising old material and hadn't really set any assignments as of yet. Come to think of it, the First Engagement was the only thing that Harry could think of that was out of the ordinary so far.

"Starting from today all students in fourth year and above will begin an intensive training program." The Great Hall was mostly quiet, but there were a few students here and there who looked concerned about exactly what the 'intensive training program' would entail. "You will take the same classes as you always have, but they have been geared towards more... pratical magic." The way Dumbledore hesitated on the word practical told Harry all he needed to know. _'Ahh, so we are being trained as fighters then. About bloody time.'_

"There are five more Engagements scheduled between now and the end of the year. These battle simulations will be used to judge your progress and indentify your weaknesses so that we can address any areas of your magical education that are not up to standard. Think of them as practical exams." Harry was amused to hear a few groans at the mention of exams. It didn't matter if they were theoretical or practical, there were very few students who didn't outright hate exams.

"There is one last small piece of business that must be taken care of this morning. We, as your teachers, have used the information we gained from the First Engagement to pair students together based on their skillsets. You will be required to work with your partner during your normal classes and the upcoming engagements. Your success and failure this year will depend on your ability to work as a team. Shortly, your Head of House will hand you a letter informing you who your partner is." The foreboding silence from the previous evening had briefly returned.

"It is important at this point to remind you that whilst you are separated into four houses, now is not the time for petty house rivalries. I can gurantee you that the students who perform best in the Engagements, and thus be best prepared for any future upheavals, will be the students who take the time to build an effective working relationship with their partners."

Harry couldn't help but look across the table at his two best friends. He was not surprised to see Hermione staring back. Eividently, she had read between the lines as well. _'We haven't necessarily been paired with people from the same house.'_

It appeared a good proportion of the student body was oblvious to the obvious connotations of Dumbledore's announcement. Everywhere Harry looked, the foreboding of a moment ago had been forgotten and students were now chatting excitedly with their friends. It was as if they all expected to be paired off with people they already knew and had strong relationships with. Dumbledore said a final few words of encouragement and sat down. It was only then that Harry noticed all four House Heads had started to make their way down their respective tables with large bundles of letters in their hands.

* * *

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_Based on the results of the First Engagement, you have been partnered with Daphne Greengrass (Slytherin)._

_Please meet with your partner as soon as possible to discuss how you are going to proceed with your studies._

_If you have any queries or concerns, please schedule a meeting with either Professor Dumbledore or myself._

_Kind regards,_

_Professor McGonagall_

_Head of House_

_Gryffindor_

Harry couldn't help but feel disappointed and apprehensive when he finished reading his letter. The idea of being paired with a Slytherin wasn't repugnant as such, although it would surely present some difficulties. _'As far as I'm aware, the whole house hates me.'_

Greengrass. What did Harry even know about her? Well nothing really. She had a reputation for being cold and aloof. That was about the extent of his knowledge of the girl. From memory she had worn one fo the Potter Stinks badges during the Triwizard Tournament along with the rest of Slytherin House. Harry was not sure if that was an immediate mark against her. _'Ron didn't speak to me for the better part of a month after the debacle with the hoodwinked Goblet of Fire.'_

Still, Harry wasn't thrilled by the idea of spending time with a snake. Harry had battled against some of the parents of Slytherin students just months ago in the Department of Mysteries after all. He looked over at the Slytherin table and sought out the blonde girl who he was being forced to work with. She was sitting next to the Italian boy Blaise Zabini and across the table from Malfoy and Parkinson. Sparkling emerald met cold grey for the briefest of moments. The girl's face did not betray a hint of emotion. Harry looked away, her piercing gaze was disconcerting to say the least.

"So who'd you get?" Ron asked loudly. The question wasn't directed at anyone in particular.

"Blaise Zabini." Hermione was the first to speak. Ron scrunched his nose up in disgust.

"Oh," was all he could say. Hermione didn't look pleased.

"I got Seamus," Ron said smugly nodding to this dormmate who was sitting next to Dean and Ginny a couple of feet away. "What about you Harry?"

"Daphne Greengrass."

"Urgh," Ron said. "The only way you two could have been more unfortunate is if you got paired with Malfoy or one of his goons. Oh well, at least one of us will have a good year."

Hermione, clearly frustrated, glared at Ron. Harry was surprised to see an almost vicious glint in her eyes. Unsure whether to speak or not, Harry was saved from making a decision when Hermione stood, collected her satchel and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"What's her problem?" Ron said confused. Harry sighed deeply.

"I don't know mate," Harry lied, "I'll go check up on her." It was the ideal cover for leaving the Great Hall. "I'll catch up with you later."

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the Common Room was mostly empty when Harry entered some fifteen minutes after leaving the Great Hall. A few second year girls were gathered at the steps to the dormitories whispering enthusiastically to one another. Apart from them, the only other person in the Common Room was Hermione who was sitting on one of the overstuffed couches near the fire place, furiously turning the pages of a large, leather-bound book.

"I'd wager that you won't find a castration hex in there," Harry said as he slumped into the chair next to Hermione.

"Not, but there's a good severing charm, that should do the job," she said bitterly, not missing a beat.

"Ron's right, you are scary," Harry observed playfully.

"Only to over-bearing, ignorant boys with the surname Weasley." The mischievious smile on Hermione's face was disconcerting. _'Ron better hope to god that she doesn't find that severing charm.'_

Harry, wanting to lighten mood tried to sound affronted. "Hey, surely Bill and Charlie shouldn't be punished so severely for what their brother said..."

"Oh, ha, ha, very funny," Hermione said sarcastically whilst closing her book. It was a bad joke, but the tension of a few moments ago seemed to be all but forgotten.

"You know, I just wish that for once in his life he would consider other people's feelings."

Harry had to agree. Sometimes Ron's lack of tact was exhausting. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm sure he'll apologize though when he realises how much of a prat he was."

A brief, comfortable silence settled over the room. The whispering second years had moved out of the room, leaving both teens deep in thought.

"So, Greengrass hey?" It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Yeah, I honestly don't know what to think about it all. On one hand it's good that the professors are taking the situation seriously, but on the other hand..." Harry left the though unfinished.

"She's a good student you know," Hermione said encouragingly.

"So is Zabini apparently," Harry replied, "but we both know that isn't the problem."

Hermione didn't say anything more, she didn't need to. She simply nodded, re-opened the book on her lap and returned to her fantastical search for a curse that would adequately punish Ron.

* * *

The owl that dropped the letter in front of Harry after dinner that evening was one of the most elegant birds he had ever seen. Silky black feathers covered the owl's entire body save for the underside of its tail which was a brilliant shade of emerald green with shimmering, dark purple highlights. The owl did not land but instead looped around the Gryffindor table before exciting through the large window near the apex of the Great Hall's roof.

"Who's it from?" Ron asked through a mouthful of potato bake. The boy had apologised to Harry and Hermione that afternoon, but even so, he and Hermione weren't exactly on speaking terms yet.

"I don't know," Harry replied, "I don't think I've ever seen that owl before." Curious of who could be sending him notes at this hour, Harry unrolled the small piece of parchment and read the short missive written in impeccably neat script.

_Meet me in the library in one hour._

_We have some things to discuss._

_D.G_

"Greengrass wants to meet in the library after dinner so we can discuss our predicament," Harry told no one in particular.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ron asked, speaking much more clearly now that his mouth wasn't full of food.

"I don't know. I don't think she'd try anything in the library though. Pince would have her head."

"Still..." Ron began, but Hermione cut him off.

"You should go Harry, maybe she won't be so bad after all."

"Or maybe she will be standing behind one of the bookshelfs with a dagger in her hand waiting for you to let your guard down." Oddly enough, Harry found himself thinking that Ron's assessment of the situation was far more likely to be accurate than Hermione's. It just seemed so unlikely that the Slytherin girl would play fair given Harry's history with her House.

Harry shrugged. "I guess I'll just have to go and find out."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

According to many experts in the fields of runes and charms, the library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the single most impressive magical place in all of Britain until the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic was completed in 1929. Certainly, Bathilda Bagshot, author of _Hogwarts: A History_, wrote that the library was the, "Founders' crowning glory." and that it was, "easily more impressive than Diagon Ally and the Great Hall of Hogwarts put together." Harry was well aware of Bagshot's opinion of the great, cavernous room because Hermione often quoted the venerable old author to Ron in an attempt to make him more enthusiastic about having to go there to study. Legend has it that hundreds of witches and wizards had tried to figure out exactly how the books cleaned, maintained, sorted and repaired themselves to no avail. The brightest minds of the last millenium, Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel included, had not been able to figure out exactly what combination of spells and runes the Four Founders used to construct the library, and as such it was one of a kind, even in the magical world. None of this impressed Ron however, who muttered darkly to himself about "evil books" and how females were "bonkers" whenever Hermione started to lecture about how amazing the place was.

Harry, though not as fanatical about the library as Hermione was, always did like the ancient building. As he walked through the great iron doors he could not help but stop a moment to appreciate the magnificence of the architecture. The massive stone archways that lead to the different sections of the library were impressive enough in themselves to be worthy of special , every aspect of the room, from the spotless marble floors and the enormous arched windows, to the ornate central carved stone pillar that propped up the roof was a work of art. To top it off, the wooden desks, bookshelves and other trimmings were so exquisitely crafted that even after a thousand years of use, they still looked as if they had been lovingly put together by a master craftsman a week ago. Despite all this, Harry could not say that he was happy to go to the library. _'Especially not tonight,'_ he thought.

Harry nodded to Madam Pince as he passed the old witch's desk, then turned right and walked towards where he knew Greengrass would be waiting for him. The library was separated into five sub-sections of different sizes which branched off of a hexagonal common area. It was almost impossible to find a fellow student in and around the stacks and Pince often docked house points from students who loitered in the main room . As such, students had no choice but to meet each other in the desigated study area.

Sure enough, Harry saw his new partner sitting alone at one of the desks near the front of the room. Harry had never really paid attention to Daphne Greengrass's appearance. From a distance, he couldn't help but think that she looked a little bit like Narcissa Malfoy. She certainly had the same high cheekbones and cold grey eyes. As he got closer however, he noticed that the two women actually looked nothing alike. Greengrass's skin had considerably more colour, her hair was several shades darker and her lips were significantly fuller. They were roughly the same height, Harry supposed, but they certainly wouldn't be mistaken for being mother and daughter.

Greengrass looked at Harry with a mixture of distrust and frustration. Evidently she was not thrilled with the idea of being forced to work with a Gryffindor. _'Then again perhaps it's just beccause it's me. I haven't exactly endeared myself to Slytherin House after all.' _At any rate, the expression on her face did not fill Harry with optimism. He knew that the only way this stood any chance of working is if they were both open-minded but Harry thought it looked like she had already given up. _'Then why did she invite me here?'_

Although the entire student body wore the same robes, in terms of their design, the Slytherin girl's were evidently made with very high quality materials. The way the folds of fabric draped over her slender frame so perfectly also suggested that her robes had been tailored to fit, giving Harry the uneasy feeling that he was sloppily dressed. All in all, there was no denying that the girl sitting in front of Harry was exceptionally atttractive, and, in her own way, hugely intimidating.

"I wasn't sure if you'd come," Greengrass stated in a bored tone. Harry slumped into the chair directly opposite the girl, noticing for the first time that she was twirling her wand in her left hand. _'Constant Vigilance,' _Harry thought, the voice of faux-Moody ringing through his brain.

"Just doing my bit for interhouse co-operation," Harry replied with a hint of sarcasm. Greengrass didn't look amused.

"I invited you here tonight so that we might discuss how we are going to get through the year without killing each other."

"Well, we could just not work together, you know, stick to ourselves and hope for the best," Harry ventured. It was juvenile, but he couldn't help but feel satisfied when Greengrass rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I considered that," she replied ruefully. "The Headmaster specifically said that the students who formed the strongest partnerships would get the best results."

"He also once told me that the thing he wanted more than anything else in the world was a new pair of socks." If there was one thing Harry had learned from the Weasley twins it was that the best way to dispel tension was to get people to laugh. Unfortunately for Harry, he was not particularly witty and his partner didn't show any signs of laughing anytime soon.

"Perhaps he was telling the truth," Greengrass said nonchalantly."At any rate, the point is that I've worked far too hard to have my grades destroyed on your account."

"On my account?" Harry couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at that. "Surely I can't be blamed for this."

"I suppose that was an unfair thing to say," she shrugged, "neither of us asked for this after all." Harry was surprised to see that she appeared to be more saddened by the arrangement than angered by it. If he was honest, he had expected his new partner to be aggressive and spiteful. _'I guess that's a good thing...'_

"We just have to try and work out some sort of a system. " Greengrass gave Harry a curious look.

"Any ideas come to mind?"

"Not really, just, well..." Harry hesitated for a moment. He still wasn't sure how he felt about being paired with a Slytherin. Although Greengrass had been polite,so far, she was still a snakeand he wasn't looking forward to spending time with her.

"Well?" Greengrass asked gruffly.

"Well, to do well in the Engagements we are obviously going to have to work pretty hard on Charms, Defence, Transfiguration and Potions." Harry had been thinking about how they might make the process easier on themselves on his way to the library. "We are in the same Defence and Potions classes, so maybe we should work together during those classes."

Greengrass appeared to be considering Harry's proposition. She look deeply conflicted and let out a small sigh. "That makes sense," she admitted begrudgingly. "We'll still have to meet up a couple of times a week to work on Charms and Transfiguration though."

"Maybe we can find some way other way to communicate with each other so we don't have to meet so often."

"Owl post is too slow," Greengrass observed. Harry had come to the same conclusion earlier on in the day. It was not a good way to communicate because only one person could speak at a time. What they needed was some way to discreetly send each other messages in real time. At that moment, Riddle's diary came to mind. Surely there was some way to adapt that sort of magic to a book or piece of parchment so that two people could communicate back and forth without having to physically exchange letters. Not wanting to explain the diary to Greengrass, Harry chose to say that he would have a think about it and see what he could come up with.

"Is that code for saying that you are going to ask Granger?" Greengrass's voice had a superior tone that Harry wasn't too keen on.

"Would you prefer that I didn't," Harry asked diplomatically.

"No, just as long as you don't involve that idiot Weasley," she replied venomously. Harry could feel anger swelling up inside of him. He had spent the time after he received the letter tyring to convince himself that all he needed to do was keep calm and the meeting would go fine. Ty as he might, he couldn't ignore Greengrass's attack on his best friend.

"Don't insult Ron," Harry said in as even a tone as he could muster.

"Why not? He's a pathetic excuse for a wizard," Greengrass replied with a smug smile. She knew that she had a hit a raw nerve and was enjoying every second of it. '_And it was all going so well... Vindictive bitch.'_

"You know what Greengrass? Fuck you." It was the only thing Harry could think of to say at that moment. He was too angry to think of a good come back. The shocked look on the Slytherin's face was priceless. Evidently, she wasn't used to being talked to in such a harsh manner.. "You can't expect me just to sit here while you berate someone I care about. I'm going to go, this was a mistake." Harry made to stand up, but was stopped in his tracks by his partner's angry voice.

"That's fine by me. What was I thinking? This was never going to be anything but a disaster.."

"Yeah, and why's that?" A tense silence settled over the room. Greengrass didn't appear to have a retort ready and so just stood there gaping. Calming slightly, Harry took a deep breath. "Look, Greengrass, this was never going to be easy, but there's no reason for us to start hurling insults at one another."

She seemed to relax slightly at that. Harry couldn't but notice how pretty the girl's face was when she wasn't angry. She looked serene, at total peace with the world. "You're right. Sorry, this is just so..." Greengrass didn't need to finish for Harry to understand what she was trying to say. It was overwhelming, it was stupid, the whole partners thing made no sense whatsoever. Why did they have to be paired with people they barely knew anyway? House unity be damned.

"Why don't we just start again. We had some good ideas, and I'm sure we can work out a way that will allow us to work together without interrupting our normal routine too much." Greengrass nodded her agreement.

"I suspect we both could have done a whole lot worse than being paired with each other. At the very least, you are a competent spellcaster and if the rumours are to be believed, you have a bit of experience with this sort of thing." Harry couldn't believe his ears, that almost sounded like a compliment.

"Err, thanks I guess."

"Don't get too excited. I'm just glad I didn't end up with We... Crabbe or Goyle." He knew she meant Ron, but was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt for the moment. _'I can't be bothered with another argument, at any rate.'_

"So it's decided then? For now, we'll just work together in Potions and Defence and we'll work out some other way to keep in touch with each other's progress in Charms and Transfiguration."

"It's a rough plan, but it will do for now. We'll work out the finer details later."

Harry took that as his cue to leave, so he stood and made his way back towards the exit of the library. Greengrass followed his lead in silence. When they reached the iron doors, he stopped for a moment and let his partner pass him by. "Goodnight Potter," Greengrass said with a courteous nod. She turned to the left and proceeded to the staircase that lead to dungeons.

Harry stood at the library doors for a moment longer and reflected upon how the meeting went. _'It could have been worse I suppose.' _It had threatened to go off the rails, but he had managed to keep his cool and Greengrass had lost her appetite for the fight. There was definitely something to work with. The big challenge would be trying to keep their house allegiences to themselves. Mostly happy with the result, Harry began the long trek back to Gryffindor Tower.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I don't know why you are even bothering mate." It was the fourth time Ron had expressed disbelief that Harry was willing to try and work with Greengrass in the past five minutes. If he was honest, Harry was growing tired of the negativity. 'It's not as if I really have a choice in the matter...'

"Oh for goodness sake Ron, how many times are you going to say that?" Evidently, Hermione was getting a little peeved as well. They were making their way down to breakfast at the Great Hall and had just reached the second floor. Harry had recounted the full tale of the meeting he had with his new partner in the Gryffindor Common Room a few minutes ago.

"It's just..." Ron started before Hermione cut him off.

"Yes, we know, she's a Slytherin, as is Zabini. We get it."

"But..."

Hermione cut the red-headed boy off again. "But nothing, end of story."

Harry shot Hermione a thankful look. Although still not keen on the idea of being paired with Greengrass, he was feeling more comfortable about the whole thing after the conversation they had last night. 'She at least seems willing to give it a go.' It was selfish, but he was glad that Hermione was paired with Zabini. He wouldn't be dealing with the uncomfortable situation alone.

Hermione had confided to Harry that she had no idea how to speak to Zabini. She was impressed by the fact that Greengrass had already contacted Harry; and perhaps a little envious as well. Now that he thought about it, Harry couldn't help but be grateful that she had confronted him so soon after learning that she would be working with him. 'I'd be a nervous wreck by now if she hadn't.'

They had just reached the lowest landing of the grand staircase in the Entrance Hall. The entire school's population seemed to be filing into the Great Hall at the same time. It was an almost comical site, at least at first. There was a lot of excitable chatter and then, quite suddenly, a few shrill screams erupted from the enormous mass of bodies heading into the Great Hall. Harry, now aware that something was wrong, stopped walking towards the top of the last flight of stairs and reached out to grab a hold of Ron and Hermione. He looked at the great mob of students, and realised that some of them appeared to be getting crushed and were falling to the floor. The screaming intensified. The mob was becoming more frenzied.

"Harry, what?" Ron sounded annoyed.

"Something's gone wrong," Harry said pointing frantically to the students gathered below them in the Entrance Hall. The crowd was now writhing about as if it was some great, many-headed beast. The screams were coming more frequently now.

"What are you talking about?" Harry looked at his friends and was surprised to find that they had not yet noticed what was going on just a few metres away from them. "They're going to crush everyone," Harry said starting to panic.

Hermione was looking at him with a concerned expression on her face. 'Why aren't they doing anything?' Harry shook his head slightly, then looked towards the doors of the Great Hall again. He was shocked to find that the students were now passing through the doors peacefully. 'What on Earth?' He could have sworn that he saw students falling to the floor.

"Didn't you hear that?" Harry's question fell on deaf ears. Ron and Hermione both looked at him quizzically. It was the same look they gave him three years ago when they thought he was hearing voices. The crowd at the base of the stairs had cleared and there was no signs that anything untoward had happened.

"Never mind, I must have been day-dreaming," Harry said as nonchalantly as he could as he tried to regain his composure. Clearly he had imagined the frenzy of a few moments before. It looked so real though and he was still rattled by what he had just seen. 'I definitely heard those screams.'. A terrible swarming mob of students had trampled towards the Great Hall, crushing people along the way, hadn't they? But as quickly as it had happened, the image was gone. And, disturbingly, no one else seemed to have seen it. Maybe he was sleep deprived; the weekend had been very stressful.

Harry, shaking his head as if to shake off the image, took a deep breath and began moving again. Ron and Hermione followed immediately. He could feel their questioning gazes burning in to the back of his head.

* * *

After the confusing and ultimately, scary experience Harry had before breakfast, the rest of the day passed fairly easily. Harry's Monday timetable was quite good compared to the rest of the week. His three classes – Transfiguration, Charms and Care of Magical Creatures – were all relatively interesting and fairly uneventful. Parvati Patil had accidentally set her practice doll on fire in Charms, but apart from that, there was nothing noteworthy to report.

McGonagall had the sixth years working on transfiguring shields from small everyday items. The magic itself was easy enough, shields weren't very hard to make because they were essentially just large blocks. The difficulty was creating a shield that would have the strength to withstand several heavy magical blows. It required a relatively extensive knowledge of how things like wood and stone were formed. His demure Head of House was careful to point out how important physical shields were. Some spells simply couldn't be blocked by Shield charms. Harry, thinking back to Dumbledore's fight with Voldemort, could clearly see the value of being able to form a series of strong physical shields. For one, after they are created they don't require any additional magic and thus don't drain your magical core. Even though it was exceptionally practical magic, Harry couldn't say that it was particularly exciting.

In Charms, they had been doing a lot of theory work. Basically, they were revising the spells they had learned in previous years with an emphasis on tightening up their wand movements, incantations and timing to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their spells. The way this was tested was to cast a spell and see how long it lasted. Parvati had chosen to test her flame spell on one of the small practice dolls they had been required to buy at the start of the school year. They were mostly used as practice targets for light bludgeoning spells to improve accuracy. Evidently, they weren't resistant to fire. Harry had to sympathise with Parvati, he also would have assumed that they wouldn't light on fire. The net result was that her parchment coloured, twelve inch doll was now charred black and smelt of burned cotton.

Unlike last year, Hagrid was present from the first day of term. Undaunted by his previous ordeals as the professor in charge of Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid had the students studying Thestrals again. Last years lesson had been largely interrupted by Umbridge, and so he felt that his students could use some more time with the great skeletal beasts. Harry and Neville still appeared to be the only students who were able to see the tTestrals. It was a mostly simple lesson that involved observing how the beasts moved about the paddock. The only problem was of course, that ninety per cent of the class couldn't see them. Harry and Neville were providing a running commentary of sorts describing how they moved much like Hippogriffs with a graceful, laconic swagger.

All in all, it had been a reasonable day. Although, Harry hadn't exactly forgotten what he had seen that morning. As the students sat down to eat their dinner – a delightful roast consisting of pork, potatoes, pumpkin, cauliflower cheese, gravy and Yorkshire puddings – Harry couldn't help but feel anxious about the future. As he looked around the Hall he tried to pick out the faces of those people he thought had fallen under the feet of the crowd in the morning. To his surprise, although he could clearly picture their faces, he couldn't recall seeing any of them before. Baffled and frankly, worried by this, Harry chose to concentrate on his meal instead. Hermione was the first to break the tense silence that had settled over the trio of friends.

"Harry, are you okay?" Her voice was pleasant and revealed her concern for Harry. 'She's probably been stewing on it all day.'

"Yes, I'm fine. I guess I just must have been a bit exhausted from the weekend." Harry let out a sigh. It was a lie, and Hermione probably knew it as well.

"Are you sure?"

"I could have sworn I saw a commotion at the Great Hall doors," Harry said neglecting to mention the fact that it was quite an unsettling experience. He didn't want to let on just how disturbing the scene was.

"You said that you thought everyone was going to be crushed," Ron said through a mouthful of Yorkshire pudding.

'Thanks Ron,' Harry thought. Hermione was now looking at him with greater concern. "It was nothing guys, really, just a simple case of seeing something that wasn't there." Harry flinched inwardly. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realised how ridiculous they sounded. Sure it wasn't unusual for people to think they've seen something that simply didn't exist, but to see a whole mob of people who ,as far as he could tell, didn't exist getting pushed to the floor and trampled on? That didn't sound like something that could be explained by a trick of the light.

Not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer, Harry tried to change the subject. "So, have you spoken to Zabini yet?"

An anxious look flashed across Hermione's face. "No, I haven't," she conceded. Harry already knew this. He had spent most of the day in her company, so it wasn't feasible for the two strangers to have met. The distraction worked as Harry intended, but he felt bad now that he had made his friend unhappy. "I suspect I'll just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow," Hermione finished morosely.

"I'm sure it will be okay," Harry offered. "As much as I'm not fond of Slytherins, he's certainly not the worst of the bunch." It was true. From what Harry could tell, Zabini was a bit of an oddity. He never seemed to be surrounded by the same group of people. It was like he tried to spend his time equally with all the older members of his House. 'Perhaps he doesn't like people getting close...'

"That's not saying much," Ron observed. It was not the ideal time to say such a thing, but Harry agreed wholeheartedly. Not that he would let Hermione know that, it was hard enough on her as it was. Ignoring the insensititvity of his male best friend, Harry turned to meet Hermione's gaze.

"You always did say that House rivalries were nonsense and that we should try to get along with all of our peers. We can be the ones to set a good example for the rest of the school to follow. " Harry didn't necessarily believe what he was saying but he knew that it would cheer Hermione up. "At any rate, with the way things are going with Voldemort, it seems silly to alienate a quarter of the population."

"You're right Harry," Hermione said, suddenly looking considerably happier, "Every person we can make friends with is one less ally Voldemort has."

"We can do this," Harry said optimistically.

* * *

As Harry fell into bed later that evening, he felt a deep uneasiness in his stomach. It was not what he witnessed that morning that was causing the discomfort. In fact, that was the least of his worries. His anxiety stemmed from the fact that he was so unprepared for what was coming. Harry knew that he was destined to fight Voldemort at some point and the very thought of that scared him to the bone. He would be facing a wizard with so much more magical experience than he had. A wizard who even Dumbledore acknowledged knew more about dark magic than anyone since Salazar Slytherin himself.

The only thing that kept Harry even slightly hopeful was Dumbledore's insistence that he had great power and that it would reveal itself in due course. Even so, it seemed like such a daunting and impossible task. He had spent almost his entire summer moping in his bedroom at Privet Drive about the unfairness of it all. Sirius's death still stung and if he thought about it for any length of time, it brought him to tears. The realisation that he had placed all of his friends in grave danger at the Ministry of Magic didn't help. That night had changed everything in Harry's mind. Cedric's death at the end of Fourth Year was devastating but he wasn't someone that Harry had much of a relationship with. Now, with Sirius's death, it all just seemed so much more personal.

Harry let out a frustrated sigh. 'It was personal a long time before that,' Harry mused. Voldemort had made himself Harry's mortal enemy before he was even capable of independent thought. The one positive of it all was that Dumbledore seemed to be making an effort to help him this year. He was under no illusions that a major reason why the Headmaster had changed the school curriculum was for Harry's sake. Yes, he had to be the one to fight Voldemort, but other witches and wizards would be required to fight in the coming war.

The students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were being trained as soldiers and Harry couldn't be happier about it. The more training everyone had, the more likely they were to survive.


End file.
